The popularity of his monumental and definitive works established Shabtai Rosenne as the undisputed expert on the International Court of Justice’s law and practice of his time. Irrefutably the leading work on the court, previous editions of Rosenne’s Law and Practice of the International Court have influenced generations of legal scholars, practitioners, judges, and students alike. The Fifth Edition, by Malcolm N. Shaw, combines his expertise as both an academic and practitioner to bring this monumental resource up-to-date while retaining Rosenne’s distinctive voice, erudition, and rigorous objectives.

Preserving Rosenne’s focus on the caselaw of the Court, the Fifth Edition is supplemented with increased references to the leading academic literature, and, like the Fourth Edition, is divided into four substantive volumes. The Fifth Edition (updated through 2015) of Rosenne’s Law and Practice of the International Court is an essential component of all international law libraries and an indispensable work for those practicing in the field, who will all appreciate access to the most recent work on the Court.

Preface

It was a singular honour to be invited by Mr Alan Stephens (Shabtai Rosenne’s literary executor) and Mr Hans van der Meij (of Brill publishers) to revise Rosenne’s classic work on the International Court of Justice. Originally published in 1957 with the second edition in 1965, the third in 1997 and the fourth in 2006, it rapidly became established as the leading work on the court. Erudite, practical and thoughtful, it was avidly turned to by judges, practitioners, scholars and students alike. It is no secret that Rosenne himself was from time to time consulted by judges from the International Court seeking assistance with abstruse and complicated problems concerning the practice of the court.

Shabtai Rosenne was born in London on 24 November 1917. He served in the Royal Air Force from 1940 to 1946. He obtained an LLB from London University and qualified as a solicitor. After the war, he began working for the Jewish Agency and moved to mandatory Palestine in 1947. In 1948 he became the Legal Adviser to the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a post he held until 1967. Thereafter, he served as Ambassador in the UN in New York and in Geneva and in various international organisations. His work in the Sixth (Legal) Committee of the UN General Assembly and in the UN International Law Commission, for example, were renowned. But it was not only as a highly distinguished Israeli lawyer and diplomat with unrivalled experience that Rosenne was known throughout the diplomatic and legal world. He was a truly formidable international lawyer and became an internationally acknowledged expert in, and great contributor to, for example, the law of treaties; the law of the sea (in which he participated in all the major UN conferences and with regard to which he was the General Editor of a highly influential multi-volume commentary on the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea); and, preeminently, of course, with regard to the International Court of Justice. But for Rosenne, law and practice went together and he acted for and advised a number of states as Counsel before the International and other Courts and Tribunals. These included the US in the ELSI and LaGrand cases, Serbia in the Genocide case and Japan in the Southern Bluefin Tuna case. He also advised in a number of international arbitrations.

Side by side with these achievements, Rosenne was a successful and thoughtful teacher. He gave lectures and was a Visiting Professor at numerous institutions around the world, including the Royal Naval College at Greenwich, and the universities of Cambridge, Utrecht, Amsterdam and Virginia. He gave the General Course on International Law at the Hague Academy of International Law and received many prestigious awards, including the Israel Prize (1960), the Certificate of Merit of the American Society of International Law for the second edition of this work (1968), the Manley O. Hudson Medal (1999), and the Hague Prize for International Law (2004). He was an honorary member of the Institut de Droit International, the American Society of International Law and the Hellenic Society of International Law.1 He passed away on 21 September 2010. Judge Owada, the then President of the International Court paid tribute to him on 11 October 2010 at the opening on the oral hearings in the Territorial and Maritime Dispute (Nicaragua v Colombia) case. He referred to Rosenne as “a truly distinguished international lawyer” and termed this work a “landmark treatise”, which remained “an indispensable guide to the role and functioning of this Court, and serves as the first port of call for international lawyers and diplomats alike who are interested in the work of the principal judicial organ of the United Nations”. A minute’s silence was held.2

Following in such footsteps is well nigh impossible and the decision was early taken to maintain as much of Rosenne’s distinctive voice, erudition and experience as possible. This edition is, therefore, essentially an updating and, where necessary, a revision of the previous edition compiled, it is hoped, with Rosenne’s rigorous objectives in mind. Accordingly, the structure of the fourth edition has been followed. I have, however, taken the liberty of somewhat increasing the number of footnote references to leading academic works, while retaining the primary focus upon the caselaw of the court itself.

The manuscript of this edition was submitted just prior to the seventieth anniversary of the establishment of the court, which added to the years of the preceding Permanent Court of International Justice, marks a total of 95 years of operation of this unique and exceptional repository of the hopes of succeeding generations, imbued with the vision of turning the swords of conflict into the ploughshares of a shared and peaceful future for humankind.

I have been fortunate in my efforts in having the energetic research assistance of Rumiana Yotova and Andrew Sanger, both now academics at the University of Cambridge. I am deeply grateful to them, nevertheless, all responsibility for this edition rests upon my shoulders. The closing date for the manuscript was 31 December 2015. I am also delighted to record my appreciation for all of the work put in by Brill Nijhoff, in particular by Marie Sheldon and Diana Steele.

Rosenne concluded his preface with a warm and understanding reference to his wife, Esther. I can do no less. Judith has been my rock and my muse for decades now, and I cherish every moment. Thank you!

Malcolm N. Shaw QC, April 2016.
Senior Fellow, Lauterpacht Centre for International Law, University of Cambridge; and Practising Barrister, Essex Court Chambers, London

1. Much of the above has been taken from an obituary written by the present editor and published in The Guardian on 12 October 2010, http://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/oct/12/shabtai-rosenne-obituary.

Note on Documents and Abbreviations

1. Documents of the Permanent Court of International Justice are cited in accordance with their series number together with the year. They are all available on the website of the International Court of Justice. The series are:

A

Judgments

B

Advisory Opinions

A/B

Judgments, Orders and Advisory Opinions (since 1932)

C

Pleadings

D

Acts and Documents concerning the Organization of the Court

E

Annual Reports of the Court

F

General Indexes

2. Documents of the International Court of Justice are cited as follows:

Annexes in the early sessions by GAOR reference, and since the introduction of the fascicle system for the annexes at the 5th session (1950), by agenda item (a.i.) fascicle. References are not given for resolutions of the General Assembly. They are normally published in the last supplement to the Official Records of each session. The session is indicated in the resolution number. All resolutions are available on the UN website

Security Council – year, SCOR, printed publication number, meeting number, paragraph. Documents printed in three-monthly supplements are cited by reference to document number and printed supplement. Other documents are indicated by the word mimeo. References are not given for resolutions of the Security Council. They are numbered consecutively and published annually in the series S/INF/-. All are available on the UN website.

International Law Commission meetings are cited by reference to the Yearbook of the International Law Commission and paragraph. They are published in Volume I of the annual volumes of the Yearbook. ILC documents are cited by reference to the document number as published in Volume II of the Yearbook. The Commission’s Report (annual) is cited by reference to chapter and paragraph. Since 1976 the Commission’s Report has been published in its final, edited, form as Volume II, Part Two, of the Yearbook. It is initially issued as a supplement to the Official Records of the General Assembly.

Other UN docs. are cited by reference to their document number and a printed edition if available (indicated by a UN Sales Number).

Document numbers that are asterisked (*) are reissues for technical reasons.

5. Cross-references in this work are given to chapter (except where in the same chapter), section (the section number also indicating the volume) and (where relevant) note. In this online edition the cross reference are clickable

Other Abbreviations

AD

Annual Digest and Reports of International Law Cases, 16 volumes (1919–1949). Continued as ILR (see below)

adv. op.

advisory opinion

AFDI

Annuaire français de droit international

a.i. agenda item

AJIL

American Journal of International Law

Annuaire IDI

Annuaire de l’ Institut de Droit International/Yearbook of the Institute of International Law

M.O. Hudson, The Permanent Court of International Justice 1920–1942 (1943).

Hudson, Tribunals

M.O. Hudson, International Tribunals, Past and Future (1944)

ICJYB

International Court of Justice, Yearbook

ICLQ

International and Comparative Law Quarterly

ILCYB

Yearbook of the International Law Commission

ILM

International Legal Materials

ILR

International Law Reports

Jenks, Prospects

C.W. Jenks. The Prospects of International Adjudication (1964)

LN

League of Nations

LN. Docs.

League of Nations, Documents concerning the action taken by the Council of the League of Nations under Article 14 of the Covenant and the adoption by the Assembly of the Statute of the Permanent Court (1921).

LNOJ

League of Nations Official Journal

LNTS

League of Nations, Treaty Series

LPICT

The Law & Practice of International Courts and Tribunals (since 2002)

Mimeo

mimeographed document

OR

Official Records

PCIJ, Documents

Documents presented to the [Advisory] Committee [of Jurists] relating to existing plans for the establishment of a Permanent Court of International Justice (1920)

PCIJ, Procès-verbaux

Procès-verbaux of the Proceedings of the Committee, June 16th – July 24th 1920 (1920)

Documentation

As far as possible documents are cited by reference to their printed versions and official number. Most modern documents are available on an appropriate website. Treaties are cited bv reference to one of the standard treaty collections. Treaties that have been registered with the UN but not yet printed in the UNTS are cited by reference to their registration number. Decisions of the Permanent Court of International Justice, the International Court of Justice, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea and the two current ad hoc Criminal Tribunals are cited by reference to their official reports or to their website. Resolutions of standing organs of international organizations are taken from the Official Records or from the website.

The principal websites are as follows:

ICJ

www.icj-cij.org (also through the UN home page)

ICTY

www.un.org/icty (also through the UN home page)

ILC

www.un.org/law/ilc (also through the UN home page)

ITLOS

www.itlos.org (English) www.tidm.org (French) (also through the UN home page)